Tribeca Film Festival’s Top Awards Go to Female Filmmakers

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Brandon Polansky and Samantha Elisofon in “Keep the Change.”CreditCreditGiacomo Belletti

By Stephanie Goodman

April 27, 2017

The Tribeca Film Festival announced its award winners on Thursday, giving top honors to three features directed by women. An additional prize went to an Iranian short film, but its director was unable to accept in person after being turned down for a visa to enter the United States.

Best narrative feature went to “Keep the Change,” the writer-director Rachel Israel’s New York romantic comedy about a couple who meet in a support group for adults with autism. “Son of Sofia,” Elina Psykou’s dark fairy tale about an 11-year-old making a new life in Athens, took the prize for the best international narrative feature. And Elvira Lind’s “Bobbi Jene,” about an American dancer who leaves the Batsheva company in Israel to start anew in San Francisco, was named best documentary. Each of those prizes comes with $20,000.

The Iranian filmmaker Kaveh Mazaheri’s short film “Retouch,” about a wife who watches her husband die, was chosen best narrative short, but the director sent a statement explaining that he could not give his acceptance speech in person “because of Mr. Trump’s fascinating decisions.” He said he was dedicating the award “to all immigrants around the world who are struggling for a better life.”

The festival continues through Sunday, when the prize winners will all be screened again. For more details, see tribecafilm.com.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section C, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Tribeca Awards Go To Female Filmmakers. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe